APLICACIÓN Y ANALISIS DE LA TÉCNICA DEL METAPLAN EN EL

Source: Ahmed Giiner Sayar, Bir Iktisatginin Entellektiiel Portresi: Sabri F.

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Istanbul has been the centre o f Ottoman learning since its incorporation into the Ottoman Empire. Despite creating parallel institutions o f learning, the changes brought about by the educational reforms o f the nineteenth century never diminished the centrality o f Istanbul in this respect. The Istanbul madrasas continued to attract students in large numbers for centuries until the collapse o f the empire. This commonly resulted in the existence o f a large group o f madrasa students in Istanbul who made up one o f its important social groups. This fact is significant when one considers the course o f reforms in the nineteenth century as the Istanbul madrasas still appeared to have been a major educational force.

Madrasa learning has usually been dealt with from an institutional point o f view, ignoring the pedagogic, social, cultural, and economic aspects o f the students who constituted the heart o f the madrasa phenomenon. In fact, it seems essential to explore aspects o f the students’ lives in order to understand the role o f religion in practice and that o f Islam in the Ottoman context. We will investigate madrasa students as human beings, as well as the raw material, product and objective, o f a madrasa education. Details about the lives o f madrasa students provide clues that may help us to understand the otherwise obscure social side o f the changes taking place in Ottoman society. Two historical examples o f madrasa educated figures that played roles in the transformation o f Ottoman-Turkish society illustrate the important position o f the madrasa to the change taking place during the late Ottoman period. The first example is Ahmed Cevdet Efendi a leading reformer and Ottoman bureaucrat, bearing the title pa sa , leaving efendi, since the latter apparently was used to refer to his ulama affiliation.1 It would be impossible to understand the scope of the reforms in so many fields at the time without taking into account his madrasa learning in Istanbul. Ahmed Cevdet began his career as a religious advisor to the Ottoman reformers in the early Tanzimat period, a post he obtained because o f his mastery o f religious subjects. But he later played a crucial role in many legal and educational reforms. The other example is a figure from the late Ottoman and early Republican period, namely Veled Qelebi. He was a madrasa graduate as well as a

Mevlevi sheikh. These two sides o f Veled Qelebi never prevented him from

becoming a close friend to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder o f the modem Turkish Republic, or from supporting his secularizing reforms.2 Others details from

1 There exists substantial literature on Ahmed Cevdet Pasa, m ostly in Turkish. For a few examples, see Fatma A liye Hanim, Ahm et C evdet P asa ve Zamani, (Istanbul: Pinar Yayinlari, 1994); Ebul-ula Mardin, M edeni Hukuk Cephesinden A hm ed Cevdet P a sa , (Ankara: Tiirkiye D iyanet Vakfi, 1996); Richard Chambers, “The Education o f a Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Alim , Ahmed Cevdet Pasa,”

IJMES, 4/4 (1973); Hulusi Yavuz, “Ahmed Cevdet Pasa and the U lem a o f His Time,” Islam Tetldkleri D erg isi, 7/3-4 (1979); A h m ed C evdet P asa (1823-1895), Vefatinin 100. Yilina Armagan (Sempozyum: 9-11 H aziran 1995), (Ankara: Tiirkiye D iyanet Vakfi yayinlari, 1997); Christoph K.

Neumann, “W hom did Ahmed Cevdet Represent?” in Elisabeth Ozdalga (ed.), Late Ottoman

Ottoman Society: The Intellectual L egacy, (London: Routledge Curzon, 2005) and Christoph K.

Neumann, A rag Tarih Am ag Tanzimat: Tarih-I C e vd e t’in Siyasi A nlam i, M eltem Arun (tm s.), (Istanbul: Tarih Vakfi Yurt yayinlari, 2000).

2 For details o f his life and career, see V eled £ eleb i Izbudak, “Hatiralarim,” in Canli Tarihler, (Istanbul: Tiirkiye Yayinevi, 1946); N evin Korucuoglu, Veled Qelebi Izbudak, (Ankara: Kiiltur Bakanligi Yayinlari, 1994); Metin Akar, Veled Qelebi Izbudak, (Ankara: Tiirk D il Kurumu Yayinlari, 1999); Ismet Kayaoglu, “C/agdas M evlevi B ilgin ve Edip V eled (/eleb i Izbudak,” 6. M illi

M evlana K on gresi (Tebligler): 24-25 M ayis 1992, Konya, (Konya: Seltpuk Universitesi Sekuklu

his life, including Veled’s madrasa years, are helpful to an analysis o f the socio­ cultural underpinnings o f modem Turkey.

This chapter will discuss several aspects o f the lives o f madrasa students in Istanbul in the nineteenth century with special reference to the Tanzimat and Hamidian periods. It should be noted at the beginning that this chapter not only deals with the institutional and formal structure o f madrasa learning in Istanbul, but also the social, cultural, and economic side o f madrasa students. The institutional aspect will also be considered in the interest o f a broader understanding on the subject. This perspective should present a more precise view o f madrasa students and religious education at the time.

At the outset, it is necessary to find out more about the madrasa student o f the nineteenth century. This part o f the chapter is concerned with the fonnal patterns o f madrasa learning in Istanbul. The aim is to reach a practical-if not fully form al- description o f a student seeking knowledge at the Istanbul madrasas. The reason for emphasizing the practical side rather than the formal is the lack o f documentation and official regulations related to madrasa learning. The fact that the administrative department for madrasas, namely the Seyhulislamate Office, or Mesihat, had several fires during the nineteenth century is one o f the main reasons for the lack of sufficient archival sources about madrasas in Istanbul. This fact means that we must lean more on historical accounts, memoirs, and archival sources from other state departments. Sources related to the livelihoods o f madrasa students are another area in need o f investigation vis-a-vis their relationship to the state and society.